The present invention relates to a medical material and a process for producing the same.
A medical material comprising polylactide which is used in operation has the advantage that it does not need to be taken out of the body after an operation since it is hydrolyzed and absorbed in vivo, while such medical material has a drawback that it is low in retention of strength and deteriorated in strength in vivo in a relatively short period of time. Molecular weight of polylactide has heretofore been increased to improve the strength thereof; however, polylactide tends to be deteriorated in thermal processability if the molecular weight is too high. For example, when polylactide is heated to exceed its melting point for molding, it is largely decreased in the molecular weight due to thermal decomposition. Thus, there is a limit for retaining the strength against heat with maintaining the same molecular weight.
An object of the present invention is to provide a medical material which is excellent in thermal processability and useful as a fixation device or like materials which are required to maintain high strength for a long period of time and a process for producing the same.